"From our perspective, we feel the role of the United States is to facilitate a just and honest dialogue between the Dalai Lama's envoys and the government of China," said the exiled government's spokesman, Thubten Samphel.

"So there is nothing wrong in a meeting between the president and His Holiness," Samphel told AFP.

His remarks followed a warning from China that any decision by Obama to meet Tibet's exiled spiritual leader when he visits the US later this month would "seriously undermine the political foundation of Sino-US relations."